Tainted Life Redo
by DemonKittyAngel
Summary: Hermione hasn't heard from her cousin Ryou in a long time but he's coming for Christmas. And Voldemort's new ally is causing quite a stir.
1. Prologue

The long awaited rewrite of Tainted Life! *trumpets sound*

*wipes away a tear* Oh, it's so beautiful. *sniff*

I first want to say sorry for the long wait and second that I'm glad I took my time. I had to do so many revisions to the timeline, including more from the book, the mechanics of universe integration, and just what I wanted Ryou and Bakura's relationship to be. Basically: I threw out almost everything I had.

I went back to my original plot for this (which took less than a page... ow I didn't plan much) and really integrated the parts that I wanted in the way that I wanted. I also learned recently that my love of run-on sentences do not make for good reading. Damn.

* * *

The afternoon after Hogwart's last midterm was a time for relaxing at last. The Golden Trio could be found in their common room, lounging in front of the fireplace. Hermione was doing a bit of 'light' reading as Ron once again decimated Harry in a game of Wizard's Chess.

The bludgeoning of Harry's knight was interrupted by a tapping from the window. Glancing up at the brown speckled owl on the sill Hermione let the owl in as Harry attempted to salvage his game - or at least his dignity.

Stepping aside from the window to let the owl find it's recipient Hermione was surprised when it simply held out the letter to her. Taking the letter in confusion the young witch brightened upon seeing the sender. Thanking the owl (which hooted and then took off) she closed the window and returned to her seat. "My parents wrote me back about staying with you two for the holidays." She answered their curious looks.

"What's it say, then?" Ron asked after destroying another of Harry's pawns.

Hermione rolled her eyes good naturedly at her friend's impatience and proceeded to open the letter and read it out loud.

"_Dear Hermione,_

_"We're so pleased to hear that your classes have been going well and that your study group has been so well liked._

_"You're sixteen now and normally we'd have no problem with you staying with your friends but we had hoped to surprise you this year. You see, your cousin Ryou wrote us in October and since then we've been talking about him coming for the holidays. We've already scheduled it so that we can pick him up from the airport after getting you from the station so we really can't let you stay somewhere else this year._

_"Perhaps you could arrange to spend some time with your friends over the summer?_

_"Love,  
Mum & Dad_"

"What? That's Bull!" Ron exclaimed, abandoning the game completely. "You can see your cousin any old time. This is Christmas."

"Christmas is supposed to be a time for family in the first place." Harry informed his friend as he reset the board (thus fixing all the pieces) before putting it all away.

"Well, yeah, but she spends Christmas with her folks every year." Ron bluntly pointed out.

Harry was about to respond that Ron's entire family was going to be there when he caught the look on his female friend's face. "Hermione?"

She bit her lip and tore her eyes away from the letter for the first time. Seeming to mentally debate for a moment she started slowly before picking up steam. "Actually, I can't see Ryou any time. In fact, I haven't heard from him since I first started Hogwarts." She looked back at the letter intensely like it would give up all the secrets behind her cousin. "I haven't even heard about him since October in first year."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean? Did he move away?"

Hermione held another small debate before answering. "Ryou had already moved away. You see, we used to live in the same neighborhood - just three blocks from each other actually - but one day there were a whole bunch of ambulances leaving their house and the next day, they moved."

"Ambulances? What for?" Harry asked as Ron looked between them not understanding the significance.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't really know. I overheard my parents once talking about Ryou's friends being in comas but none of it made any sense."

"Hey, what's an amboolance and what does it have to do with comas?" Ron asked trying to understand the muggle terminology.

"An ambulance is a special car that takes people to a hospital." Hermione absentmindedly supplied before frowning at the letter again. "What I don't understand is where my cousin has been all this time and why he never contacted us before now."

"Well since you're picking him up from the airport, doesn't that mean he's been in another country?" Harry supplied.

"Not necessarily. He could just be coming from Scotland. Or maybe Wales." the brainiac rebuffed before huffing. "There's no way to really know until I talk to him, I suppose." she put down the letter which was promptly picked up by Ron.

"What kind of name is Rye-oo?" he squinted at the page seemingly willing it to change what it said.

"It's Ryou, not rye-oo, and it's Japanese. His father is originally from Japan but he got his doctorate from Oxford and that's when he met my aunt. Since my Aunt didn't want to move across the world my uncle moved here. His name is Haru Bakura." she stopped before adding. "Ryou means 'dragon' by the way."

Ron contemplated for a minute. "Dragon? That's a pretty cool name. I bet Bill would like it. So what's he like?"

Hermione brought her legs up beside her in the armchair before answering. "I'm not quite sure. I haven't seen him in four and a half years. I can tell you what he was like though." Ron and Harry settled themselves on the couch across from her more comfortably. "He has white hair-"

"White hair?" Ron interrupted.

"Yes Ron, white hair. He has Albinism. It means he has no pigment in his skin or hair. Now as I was saying, he's two years older than me. He has a very willowy build but he might have filled out by now. He always had his hair around his shoulders - which isn't that strange since Uncle Haru kept his hair long too." She stopped to think for amoment. before continuing. "He's always been quite nice. He loves games - I'm sure that hasn't changed. His favorites were always Table Top RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons - it's just a game Ronald. There's no real dragons or dungeons involved." the ginger snapped his mouth closed. "Let's see... he always had this habit of writing to his sister instead of writing in a diary."

"Why would he write to his sister?" Ron asked trying to imagine writing to Ginny.

Hermione looked down at her hands in her lap before looking out the window. "Amane died ten years ago in a car crash. Aunt Livia had picked them up from school and was taking them home. When they were crossing an intersection a driver didn't stop. He crashed into the driver side where Amane was. Amane died on impact and Aunt Livia passed away in the hospital. Ryou got out of it with a broken arm."

"I'm sorry." Harry said firmly and Hermione nodded in thanks.

"I don't remember them much - I was six at the time but it hit Ryou hard. He was always such a dedicated big brother. So responsible and kind. Actually, that's a good word to describe him. Ryou is a very kind person. I don't think he could wish harm on anyone."

"Come on Hermione. No ones that nice." Ron cajoled.

"He used to get bullied at school for his white hair but he never hated them. It's just not in his nature." Hermione defended before sighing. "Or at least it wasn't. Like I said, I haven't seen him in a long time. People change. Just look at me. Doing magic, breaking rules... helping an escaped convict." The trio shared smiles at this. "I doubt he'd even recognize me."

Harry stood up and stretched. "Guess you can't know till you see him again. Besides, you can probably come up to London for a day and we can meet up."

"Harry, that's a terrible idea. What if I'm followed? Someone could find out you're in London." Hermione exclaimed quietly, wary of eaves droppers.

Seeing Harry getting annoyed Ron interjected, "We could meet in Diagon alley. They decorate the square in front of Gringotts with a huge tree and have faerie lights floating everywhere."

Feeling it was still a bad idea Hermione glanced at Harry before smiling at Ron. "That sounds wonderful. Maybe you could talk Tonks into it? I'm sure Snuffles will be dying to go out."

And with that their evening tied up with the many schemes Sirius was sure to have to escape his house arrest.

* * *

Yup. Just a prologue. Now do I have any volunteers for a beta? I'd like to have someone read over my work before I post it so that I'm sure everything makes sense and I got rid of all the funny wordings. _Basically I'm asking who wants to read it early and be my sounding board._

Also: This is kinda important to me. I was depressed at the time I was first writing this and I feel that came through in my writing. I'm sure that my tone has changed and if the change in tone is bothering you I'm very sorry. I just feel like I'm in a much better place emotionally and mentally right now and don't want to shove myself into that dark corner of my mind just so I can get the tone right.

Thanks for reading and I hope I've kept some of the standards you expect from Tainted Life. ^^ (Please review and tell me if I should change something.)


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own no multi-million products nor do I make money off of this. Those who think I do are Idiots like Tristan.

* * *

As far as Bakura was concerned, Ryou deserved a prize for sheer patience. /It's been an hour. Just leave already./

/I can't just leave. They're coming to pick me up and they'll panic if they can't find me./ Said hikari rebuffed before pulling his scarf more snuggly around him. The cool wind gently swept by the arrivals waiting for family or taxi or friend to get them out of the cold.

Ryou could feel his yami narrowing his rust red eyes in agitation. /There is no excuse for them to leave you waiting in the cold like this. We told them the plane would arrive at 6 and that you be ready to be picked up at 6:30. There's no excuse. You should've just waited at their house./

Stopping himself from giving a mental sigh, the hikari responded. /We both agreed that it would avoid suspicion if they picked me up from the airport and as I've pointed out before it would make them feel bad if I took a taxi. Besides, it's probably just traffic./

Feeling his yami's steady disapproval, Ryou sought to distract him by mentally going over the list of everyone they had to get out of comas. '12... 13... that's 15... did we get Mikael? 16... 17... we had 21 to get, right? Let's see... oh yes! The one in home care. That's 19...' Ignoring Bakura's steadily growing ire he stuck to the task at hand. '20...' He drew a blank. Who had the last person on their list been?

/The annoying little sister who insisted she got to play with the big kids. Yes, we got all of them./ The dark entity nearly bit out in frustration. They had been up and down this country for the past three weeks finding which hospitals all the different victims were in and sneaking in to fix them.

Ryou frowned at him. /She has a name./ he pointed out, remembering. Karen Walker. The smiling seven year old who squirreled her way into being on her brother's 'team'. It had annoyed the other two children, even her brother, Stephen, but Ryou had thought it sweet. He always forgot she was there. Afterall, he'd lost consciousness as soon as the dice first left his hand.

Bakura mentally snorted but the hikari ignored this. /We fixed everyone. We should just go back to Egypt and watch the pathetic attempts at tomb robbing./

/They're not tomb robbers, they're archeologists./

/They're disturbing the rest of the pharaohs and nobility. I may have no respect for the people in those tombs but the dead deserve to rest in peace./

Ryou had no reply. He agreed that the dead should rest in peace but this was how the world was. It was an argument they'd had many times before and were sure to have again. He looked up when he suddenly heard his name shouted from a car window.

His aunt was getting out of the passenger seat and his cousin out of the back. He smiled (firmly ignoring his yami's low, rumbling growl of annoyance) and started collecting his bags.

"We're so sorry we're late." His Aunt Patricia hugged him, her long, brown locks mixing with his white before pulling back with her hands on his shoulders to look at him. "You've grown so much." Her green eyes traced his form before looking back in his eyes. "We're so sorry we're late. We had to pick up Hermione from King's Cross first and traffic is practically standing still."

Ryou's smile became more genuine at the news. His family had just been held up in traffic - they did want to see him. He could feel Bakura bite his tongue from making a rude comment and inwardly sent his thanks. "I wasn't waiting long."

Acknowledging his yami's growing ire but thankful for his silence, he helped his aunt fit his suitcase beside an old fashioned trunk. "Have you and your father been well?"

He froze in the middle of taking off his backpack before slowly continuing. "I haven't seen my father in a while. He's been very busy." he didn't look up from putting his backpack on top of his suitcase and focused on closing the boot.

/'A while.'/ Bakura snorted. /If three years without even a word is 'a while' I wonder what you call leaving a thirteen year old alone in a foreign country. A vacation?/

Ignoring the pang from his other half's derision he turned his attention to his now contrite aunt. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you'll see each other when you get back to-" She stopped and blinked. "I'm so sorry, where did you say you've been again?"

"Ah, I never said. I've been in Japan." Ryou gave a small smile as he moved to the door his cousin Hermione was standing by.

"Japan? That must be fascinating..." she eyed him almost warily for a moment before stepping forward for an awkward hug. "It's great to see you."

Ryou hugged back before they mutually stepped back. "It's good to see you too." he paused and stared at her for a moment. 'She's so grown up. Amane was only a year younger than her. Would Amane have curves already too? A boyfriend?' Shaking off his morbid thoughts he focused on his cousin. "You've grown up. No more bushy hair and buck-teeth?" He smiled a bit cheekily at her.

She smiled back, shaking her head lightly. "No, but I see you haven't changed at all. In fact, your hair is girlier than ever."

The hikari mock pouted at his cousin. "I like my hair."

Hermione scooted across the backseat so Ryou could step in after her as her mother got back in the front. They pulled out in silence before his Uncle cleared his throat. "So, where in Japan were you living?"

"I live in Domino-"

"Domino!? The most technologically advanced city in the world and the base of operations for Kaiba Corp?!" Hermione cut across him and he could only nod.

"Yes, that Domino."

He was cut off again. "Have you ever met Seto Kaiba? No, that's ridiculous. Have you seen his 3D holograms in person? I hear that he refuses to allow the technology be used for anything except that silly little card game and Capsule Monsters."

Needing to defend Duel Monsters Ryou cut his cousin off from going any further. "Actually, I do know Kaiba - we were in the same class at school as well as having competed in Duel Monsters tournaments against each other. Although, come to think of it, I've never dueled him directly. And it's not ridiculous."

Hermione frowned at him. "It is ridiculous. This technology could revolutionize the world and he wants to keep it to the gaming community."

Uncle Phil cleared his throat to distract from the rising dissention. "So how's school? Hermione is at the top of all her classes." He stated with obvious pride.

"Since I graduated last year I'm taking a year off to think about it. I'm actually going to Egypt after this to stay with my friend's family." Ryou smiled to himself recalling Malik's offer (read: demand). It was the most unexpected but strongest friendship he had.

"Egypt?" his aunt joined the conversation. "Where did you meet this friend?"

Ryou thought over just what he wanted to say before deciding less was more. Before he could simply say 'I met him during the finals of Battle City' Bakura reasserted his presence. /They're bound to notice the scar on your arm eventually. You could explain it now and have less questions./

The whitenette considered this for a moment before deciding his yami had a point and started slow as he decided how he wanted to spin it. He'd become quite accomplish at twisting the truth although he could never outright lie. "Actually, when we met he almost ran me over with his motorcycle. It was during the Battle City tournament and I was taking an alley to get from one street to another when he was coming down the other side. I dived out of the way and cut my arm on something so he helped me get to the hospital as an apology. We ended up talking in the hospital and found out we got along really well."

/No need to mention that the talk in the hospital was after the tournament was over and he had to explain the last three weeks to you./ Bakura snorted.

/That was your fault./ Ryou shot back before focusing on his uncle.

"A motorcycle? Isn't he your age?"

"He's a few months younger than me."

Phil Granger 'hmmed' in disapproval but Ryou didn't mind. Malik certainly wouldn't care about his opinion and would probably find it hilarious. Instead of replying he gazed out the window. Quickly getting bored he instead glanced around the car and noticed his cousin looking out the opposite window looking worried and apparently scanning the sky. Looking outside his window and finding only spotted cloud cover he didn't think she was worried about the weather.

"Hermione?" she jumped for a moment before looking at him questioningly. "Are you ok? You look distracted."

She tried to muster a smile but after having it waver for a second she let it drop back into a worried frown. "My friend's dad ended up in the hospital last night. I haven't heard any news since if he's going to be ok or not."

Ryou gasped before his eyes softened in sympathy. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea. I'm sure your friends will contact you soon."

He didn't try to pry into her business or ask any intrusive questions - she was worried as it was and he had no right to know other than curiosity. His cousin gave a small, grateful smile. "Thank you."

They finished the rest of the drive in silence.

Pulling into the driveway Hermione suddenly shot to attention and jumped out almost before the car stopped moving. Any sound of surprise or disapproval was silenced when they saw her racing towards an owl. /Bakura, isn't that how wizards send mail?/

/Yes, it is. Get your hands on that letter./

Ryou sent a silent inquiry to his dark but upon receiving no answer he mentally shrugged, got out, walked around the back, and approached his cousin from behind just as she gave a huge sigh of relief. "He's going to be ok. He'll be in the hospital for a while but he's going to live." She called over her shoulder without taking her eyes off the letter.

"That's good to hear." he smiled and his cousin turned around quickly.

"Ryou, I didn't realize you were right behind me." She held the letter to her chest and calmed her breathing.

"You practically jumped out of a moving car - I was worried."

Hermione looked sheepish for a moment before glancing back at the letter. "Yes, well. I was quite worried." She tucked the letter in her pocket before turning back to the car firmly. "Well, we should get settled in. No use standing around in the cold."

And with that she smartly marched back to the boot which her father had opened and helped him pull out her trunk. Blinking at his cousin's sharp dismissal - a trait he'd never known her to have - he moved to the boot to get his own bags. /There's something in that letter she doesn't want you to see./

/Maybe./

Inwardly Ryou agreed but felt the need to defend his cousin. She had always been a bit tactless - maybe she was just more so these days. Ignoring his Inner Bakura snorting at his naivety he situated his backpack over his shoulders. When he reached back to get his suitcase he had to pull his hand back to keep from getting crushed in the boot.

"Careful there." his uncle gently scolded him. "I've got your bag for you."

Opening his mouth to say that he could get it himself he decided that it would be much more rude to refuse his uncle's help. "Thank you." He offered a small smile and they headed up the front walk where Aunt Patricia was struggling with the lock.

Giving up, she shook off a glove. "Can never get it to move with my gloves on." And sure enough, it opened smoothly after that.

Walking in was almost like walking into a fond memory that's been twisted almost beyond recognition. The linoleum was the same but the once blue-jay walls were now a frosty green. The wire coat rack on the right had been replaced with a wooden one - still four spokes - and the bowl for the keys was a blue, rectangular glass shape rather than the grape print, circular ceramic of years before. The coffee table it sat on was the same cherry wood one-by-four and Ryou would bet that the first drawer still held any and all knick-knacks that were found laying around and the second one contained spare pads of paper and sticky notes and an assortment of pens and pencils in case a quick note had to be taken.

The mix between old and new stunned him for a moment. 'Things really have changed. I really have been gone all these years.' Ryou thought, the full weight of how long he'd been gone and how much he'd truly missed fully hitting him for the first time.

He watched his cousin Hermione take a deep, contented breath in front of him. 'That's right. Having been at a boarding school all this time, it must feel wonderful to be home.'

She turned towards him smiling brightly. "You'll be in the guest room across from me. Ask me if you need anything." With that, she lugged her trunk with surprising ease down the hallway.

Ryou stopped in his tracks after opening the door to the guest room. It had barely changed. The same Maple desk in the corner with black swivel chair that squeaked when you leaned back on it, the same queen size bed with warm, tan comforter and honeycomb blinds laid shut. He was still for nearly a whole minute before remembering his uncle was standing behind him with his suitcase.

"It hasn't changed." he said softly as memories washed over him. Amane, Hermione and himself taking all the blankets out and building a fort. Pushing each other around in the squeaky chair. Playing office at the desk.

He walked forward slowly feeling his uncle enter behind him. "There were a lot of good memories here." His uncle replied before putting his hand on Ryou's shoulder. "We thought of changing it a few years back, but Hermione insisted we keep it how it was. I think she was right."

The bewildered young man just nodded slowly. "Thank you."

Phil Granger tightened his grip on his nephew's shoulder for a moment before leaving him alone to get settled in. After closing the door as quietly as he could which still resulted in a small click he turned around only to come face to face with his daughter. "He's remembering Amane, isn't he?"

The dentist could only give a sad smile in response. "You kids used to play in there a lot. With how much the rest of the house has changed, I'm not surprised he's stunned that that room's the same."

Hermione gave a quick nod before facing her father directly. "Do I have time for a quick shower before supper?"

Phil smiled at his daughter. "A quick one. We're making pasta and the water can take a while to boil."

"Thanks." Hermione quickly turned to dash into her room and get a change of clothes before seemingly thinking better of it. She turned back around and gave her father a humongous hug. "It's good to be home, dad."

"It's good to have you home." He kissed the top of her head and smiled into her hair.

* * *

When he could hear the water pounding on the shower wall for a few minutes Ryou decided it was safe enough to sneak into his cousin's room. He slipped in like a ghost leaving the door open by the smallest of cracks and scanned the room with his eyes. /Now if I were hiding a magical letter, where would it be?/

His eyes fell on the trunk scrunched up against the blue, star covered comforter at the foot of her bed. 'Magic with magic I suppose.' He lifted the lid with no effort and blinked for a moment. He tilted the trunk backwards. /It's weightless. That must be useful./

/It makes them weak. I've been observing these wizards for days. Going up three flights of stairs is enough to tire most any of them out and their fighting style seems to consist of standing in place and shielding. Only the better ones even think to dodge at all. It's pathetic./

Sending a wave of agreement through their connection he lifted the lid back up and blinked. /It's bigger on the inside./ He felt his yami peer through his eyes to see that it was, indeed, bigger on the inside - by at least a foot. /Now that one is useful. No wonder they need to make it weightless./

Feeling Bakura retract from the front of his mind he turned his attention to the content of the trunk - he didn't have long after all. Low and behold, there was the letter from earlier, tucked into the side against a pile of black fabric. /Her robe, most likely./

/A robe?/ Ryou examined the large pile of fabric for a moment before picturing it on Hermione - it probably went all the way to the floor. /How do they move in these?/ the very bulk of it would stop any freedom of movement. Sharing a body with a thief and being friends with a thief and professional trouble maker, Ryou had long since learned the importance of freedom of movement.

/Like I said, they don't./ his yami mentally prodded him in impatience so he turned to the letter.

_Dear Hermione,_

_We're all safe at Grimmauld Place and when we saw Mrs. Weasley in the morning she informed us that he was going to live. He'll be in Saint Mongos for a while so we're going to visit him tomorrow. Can you meet us at the Leaky Cauldron at 10 or so? I'm sure your cousin will enjoy visiting London for a day._

_Hope to see you soon,  
Harry_

/Looks like we'll be spending tomorrow in London./ he offhandedly commented as he refolded along all the same creases and tucked it back along the side.

/You may want to leave after lunch./ Was Bakura's offhand comment as Ryou adjusted the door back to the seventeen degree angle Hermione had left it at. He heard the water go off as he closed the door to his room. He sent a silent question down the link as he glanced at his gloves, hat, coat, and scarf lying scattered on the bed. /We're planning an attack on London. As much as I'd like to see you sooner, I don't want you in the crossfire./

/I see./ Ryou responded as he unzipped his suitcase. In order to not raise suspicion he had double and triple checked that he had everything he needed for his three week stay.

Getting anything he needed was never a problem since Bakura kept them well financed (and Ryou steadfastly never asked where the money came from) and grabbing something he'd left at home wouldn't take more than a few minutes. The most useful Shadow Technique (and coincidentally the only one he had fully mastered) was traveling through the shadow realm. Since traveling through the shadows was all about intent, getting from one country to another took mere moments. Ryou had in fact not stepped on an airplane to get to England at all nor was he going to use one to get to Egypt.

In fact, after the holidays were over he wasn't even going to Egypt. (Although stopping in to see Malik was on his list of things to do.) He was, in fact, going to be staying at a currently undisclosed location with Bakura until he decided he was bored of this conflict. Ryou didn't bet on it being more than a month or two, especially with Bakura's attitude towards the wizards. But, you never could know with his Yami.

Ryou collected his shampoo and conditioner and put them on his bed along with a pair of grey sweat pants and a navy T-shirt that read _You're just jealous that the voices talk to me_. It had been a prank gift from Malik upon finding out that before understanding who Bakura was at all, he had simply called him 'voice.' Bakura had found it so funny that he insisted Ryou wear it. They eventually reached a compromise where he would wear it as a night shirt and Bakura and Malik wouldn't throw out all his other clothes - pants and underwear included. It was the best he could get out of those two.

He also grabbed a cleanser, toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant. He'd take care of everything after dinner.

Just then he heard a knocking at his door. "Ryou? Supper's almost ready." Hermione raised his voice slightly to be heard through the door.

"Ok." he called before opening the door. Hermione was now wearing a different set of jeans and sweater - this one red instead of the purple one from earlier. She also had her damp hair in a sloppy bun to keep it out of her way while it dried. "I was just getting my stuff together so I can shower after dinner." he smiled and gestured to the pile of stuff on the bed.

"Voices talk to me?" Ryou blinked before looking at the bed and seeing that 'voices talk to me' was indeed the only part of the shirt she could read.

He rolled his eyes before moving into the hallway next to Hermione. "Malik gave it to me as a prank and threatened to take all my other clothes if I didn't keep it. I'll show it to you later."

"He sounds like a handful. Is he a prankster by any chance?" he saw her glance at him from the corner of his eye.

Malik? A prankster? "No... he's more of a professional trouble maker." he replied as they rounded the corner to the kitchen. A law breaking trouble maker. Honestly, the more he thought of Malik doing something as menial as pranking someone the more he had to resist the urge to laugh - or giggle if you were to listen to Bakura's opinion.

"Professional trouble maker? Just who are you talking about?" Patricia Granger asked as she turned off the stove.

Ryou smiled sheepishly. He didn't want to give his family a bad opinion of his friends. "My friend Malik. He's a 'Walking Chaos Conductor' according to his sister." There. Now they'd all have the impression that he causes his sister a lot of trouble. Not that Ishuzu hadn't actually called him that on more than one occasion. Although whether she was speaking strictly about Malik or the rod was up for debate.

Hermione snorted. "Sounds like we should keep him away from Harry. He's a 'chaos conductor' of his own."

"Oh, how so?" Ryou asked. He stood awkwardly next to the counter as Hermione took one of the four seats around the square table. He didn't want to be in someone's spot.

Phil pulled up a seat and answered for her. "Isn't he your friend who got all the detentions earlier in the year because the teacher hates him?"

Hermione nodded. "He always has the worst luck. Our chemistry professor has hated him since day one since his father used to bully him when they were at school together. We also have a new math teacher every year and four out of five were simply nightmares. Our latest one insists that reading the theory is enough to get us through the practical at the end of the year, not to mention she's blackmailed her way into a position of more power."

Aunt Patricia brought plates of spaghetti and meatball marinara over to the table as Hermione ranted bringing the last plate over as her daughter finished. Seeing her take her seat Ryou finally moved to the seat nearest the back door and across from his uncle. He glanced right at his aunt as she reached for his hand before noticing her holding her husband's hand and him holding onto Hermione's with her reaching out to him.

"Hermione, would you like to lead us in grace?" his aunt asked and Ryou's eyes widened in surprise and understanding before quickly taking their hands. He never said grace except the few times he ate here when he was little. He'd forgotten entirely.

"Ok." They all closed their eyes and Ryou uncomfortably followed. "Thank you for the wonderful meal we are about to eat and allowing us to be together as a family. We're also thankful for 's ."

"Amen." her parents echoed and Ryou pulled back his hands as soon as they were released.

As they turned their attention to the food Ryou instinctively clapped his hands together and saying "Itadakimasu." before reaching for his fork. Noticing the lack of clacking silverware he looked up to find them all staring at him. He promptly flushed and looked back down. "Gomenasai- I mean, sorry. I've just been in Japan so long and it would be quite rude to start the meal without that.

"I suppose saying grace was very strange for you, wasn't it?" his aunt gave him a sweet yet contrite smile and he felt reassured.

"It was." he responded and they had a short chuckle over it before everyone actually dug in.

"I guess this is a common case of culture clash." his uncle commented. "Is there anything else you're likely to do that would surprise us?"

Ryou thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing that I can think of." he took a bite of meatball. "This is delicious."

"Thank you." his aunt answered before turning to her daughter. "How were finals, dear?"

Swallowing a mouthful and patting her mouth with a napkin Hermione eventually managed to reply, "Fairly well. I'm almost certain I put in the date 1609 instead of 1606 on question 36 of my history exam but I can't quite recall. I looked it up right after but I'm not sure what I wrote down."

The hikari blinked at the sudden reminder of just how smart his cousin was. She was the top of all her classes for a reason after all. The surprise resonated with a sharp pang in his heart. Just another reminder of how much time had gone by and how little he knew about his family. 'Looks like my dad succeeded in keeping me away from everyone.'

Bakura growled in the back of his mind letting him know that his yami was paying far more attention than he had thought. /I'll rip his soul out only after severing his limbs./

Ryou mentally cringed knowing that what he said aloud was just the short version of whatever his yami had planned. /He was just trying to keep them safe. He didn't know what was going on and thought the best thing to do was separate me from everyone. He was just trying to protect them./

/That's bullshit and you know it./ Bakura spat back but silenced himself when Ryou turned his attention back to the table.

"...glad your classes are going so well." his uncle finished and Ryou returned his attention to the food he'd only taken a couple bites of.

"Dad, I was wondering if we could go down to London tomorrow. Ron, Harry, and all the Weasleys are going to see Mr. Weasley in the hospital and asked me to come along. I'd only be gone with them for the morning and you can visit a museum with Ryou. I'm sure he'd love to see the sights." Her eyes pleaded with his to help her convince her parents.

He gave a small nod before turning to his aunt and uncle. "Hermione, he just flew in from Japan. I'm sure Ryou would like to stay here and settle in - get used to the time change. Besides," he gave a broad smile, "we haven't decorated the tree yet."

"Actually," the whitenette cut in. "I think it's a great idea. It's supposed to snow the day after and I think it's important to visit people in the hospital." Memories of many hospital stays with no one to see him flashed through his mind. "We could even pick out new ornaments for the tree."

"That sounds like a lovely idea. We could each pick out an ornament to represent ourselves on the tree." Aunt Patricia chimed in before smiling at her husband.

Seeing he was outnumbered, Phil Granger sighed and gave in. "Ok, but if Ryou gets tired at all we're leaving right away."

Hermione gave a bright smile at her dad. "Thank you! Could we leave around 9? Then we can get to London by 9:40 and I can meet up with everyone by 10."

Her father gave her a look that clearly said she was getting ahead of herself. "How about we let Ryou pick the time since he's the one on jetlag. Hmm?"

Hermione flushed in embarrassment. 'Probably used to being in charge.' said topic of conversation thought to himself before answering. "Actually, that sounds like a great idea. The best way to fight jetlag is to push through it and follow the hours of where ever you are."

His cousin turned her thousand watt smile on him now and he smiled in return, grateful that he had been able to help. "Excellent. I'll go write Harry back right away; I'm sure he's eager for Hedwig to bring back a response by now."

"Hedwig?" Ryou asked, perplexed.

"His owl." she offhandedly remarked like that was the obvious explanation.

"Right. The owl. I had been meaning to ask about that. Is it a new trend to send mail by owl?" Ryou queried even though he knew the answer. It would be far stranger if her never brought up how odd it was for owls to be delivering letters.

Hermione flushed before quickly recovering. "Hedwig belongs to Harry. She's a brilliant owl. We use her to trade letters since it's more private than email or text."

"But what if she drops the letter or it gets blown away? It doesn't seem very reliable." he rebuffed.

"We tie it to her leg and Hedwig is very reliable."

Seeing his cousin struggling to keep up this ruse he gave her a doubtful look before turning to finish his supper. When he finished and it looked like most everyone else was done as well, he excused himself to go take a shower. He was emerging from his temporary room with his assorted bundle when Hermione approached him.

"Thank you. I know you just got in and you probably want to rest but it really means a lot to me to go see Mr. Weasley." She gave him another grateful smile and he smiled in return.

"It's no problem. It really is important to go visit people in the hospital. It keeps their spirits up." He recalled the numerous times he sat there alone often with no clue why he was there or how he got hurt. "Besides, I meant what I said about jetlag. The best way to beat it is to push through it. Just don't be surprised if I'd rather go home after dinner."

"I wouldn't really know. The farthest I've been is France but that's only an hour's difference."

Ryou moved past her and put his bundle down on the counter before grabbing his shirt. "Here. I thought you should see the whole thing."

"_You're just jealous that the voices talk to me_." She read off. "Should I be worried?"

The whitenette simply rolled his eyes at his cousin's cheek. "Malik likes to think he's clever."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Well, I do have one more request of you. Can you knock on my door when you're done so I can brush my teeth?"

"Of course. It'll be no trouble at all. Do you want to go first? I am taking over your bathroom after all." he stepped aside and offered to let her in but she just shook her head.

"You're the guest and I already took my shower. I share a dorm with two other girls all year round so sharing with someone as considerate as you is no problem." She took a step back down the hall towards her room clearly showing her intentions so Ryou merely nodded.

"Good-night, then."

She smiled again. "Good-night. And Ryou?" He stopped with his hand on the knob to pull the door closed. "I'm really glad to see you're alright."

"Thank you." And with one final smile he shut the door.

* * *

_And now for blatant pandering!_

**PLEASE SOMEONE, PLEASE! Just write out a clear review saying if you like this better than the original or not. I'm dying to hear any feedback in that regard. You could even say 'I hate everything in this rewrite and the original is my bible.' I doubt it will be that ridiculous, but for the love of Yami's leather pants, I need to know!**

And now for an AN:

1. _Phil Granger's reaction to motorcycles._ There is very little room in England and motorcycles are very common. I imagine he doesn't disapprove of the bike itself so much as how young Malik is. He probably even owns one and if he doesn't, he has. I'm undecided. *shrugs*

2. _Supper vs. Dinner and Trunk vs. Boot._ In America it goes Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner. In England it goes Breakfast-Dinner-Tea/Supper. I got this from a real Brit who's a close friend of mine. This story takes place in England and I want it to sound like England. I can't do much, but I'll try to put in little things like that that I'm sure of.

3. _Saying Grace._ I'm Jewish. I don't say grace. I don't do anything before I eat. I had them do this for two reasons. One is that I wanted to make Ryou uncomfortable around them and bring out a cultural difference. Two is that _I'm basing Hermione's family off of my friend's family_. I don't have a great home life and I've always imagined Hermione's parents to be very wholesome and loving people so I'm basing them off the most wholesome family I know. And when I join them for dinner, they always say grace and I always feel uncomfortable. It's never much longer than what Hermione said here, but I want to point out that _I'm not making this religious_.

4. _Japanese_. I have one semester of Japanese which gives me basic sentence structure and a small vocabulary. If we are seeing Japanese spoken from the perspective of someone who doesn't speak Japanese, I will do my best to write it in Japanese with translations at the end.

5. _This section was much shorter in the original_. Ryou is here to connect with his family. I know that's not the most interesting part of the story but glossing over it all like I did in the first copy doesn't do his purpose any justice. I also wanted to establish the relationships between the characters more clearly as _people who haven't seen each other in years and don't quite know what to say_.

6. _Bakura and Ryou's relationship_. I'm going to put up a poll because I'm still trying to decide exactly what I want their relationship to be. It will be important in chapter three. A lot of the thinking I've done is about Ryou being Light and Bakura being dark and how they're almost complete opposites of each other but similar enough that together they make one whole. I can show this through several relationships. _Voter's choice_.

Well, that's all. _Please_ tell me what you think and I hope you enjoyed. ^^


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